Back آریوا (شیرکت) AZB Arriva Czech Arriva Danish Arriva German Arriva Spanish آریوا (شرکت) Persian Arriva Finnish Arriva French Arriva Frisian Arriva Galician
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Arriva | |
| Industry | Transport |
| Founded | 1938 |
| Founder | TSK Cowie |
| Headquarters | Sunderland, England |
Area served | Europe |
Key people | Mike Cooper (CEO) |
| Services | Bus, ferry and rail services |
| Revenue | €5.35 billion (December 2017) |
| €569 million (December 2017) | |
| Owner | I Squared Capital |
Number of employees | 35,500 (November 2023) |
| Divisions |
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| Subsidiaries | List of subsidiaries |
| Website | www |
Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.
The company was originally established in 1938 as T Cowie Ltd. Initially focused on the sale of motorcycles, it relaunched shortly after the Second World War by Tom Cowie. During December 1964, the company was floated, it acquired its first car dealership months later. In 1972, the company established Cowie Contract Hire, a successful contract hire business. T. Cowie entered into bus operations via the purchase of the London-based Grey-Green operator in 1980. During 1984, it acquired the Hanger Group along with the vehicle leasing business Interleasing. In April 1994, the company was renamed Cowie Group. Months later, Cowie Group acquired the Leaside Buses and South London Transport business units amid the wider privatisation of London bus services. During 1997, it also bought the Denmark-based operator Unibus, becoming its first venture based outside the United Kingdom.
During November 1997, the company was rebranded as Arriva. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, it disposed of its vehicle-hire and motor-retailing businesses. In February 2000, Arriva purchased MTL Holdings, which included its first UK rail franchises, Merseyrail Electrics and Northern Spirit. In April 2008, the LNWR train maintenance business was acquired. Arriva became a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn in August 2010. Arriva operates bus, coach, train, tram and waterbus services in 10 countries across Europe. As of November 2023, it employed 35,500 people and operated 1.5 billion passenger journeys annually.[1] It operates as three divisions: UK Bus, UK Rail and Mainland Europe.[2] Deutsche Bahn announced in 2019 that it wished to sell Arriva, but such a sale was placed on hold as of November in that year. During the early 2020s, several of Arriva's continental European operations have been sold on. In October 2023, Deutsche Bahn agreed terms to sell Arriva to I Squared Capital with the transaction expected to be completed in 2024.